작품 상세

PROPERTY FROM THE MILLET MARTINEZ MANANQUIL COLLECTION Pablo Baens Santos (1943 - 2021) Cityscape signed and dated 1999 (lower right); inscribed 28 Marso 2000 / Kay Millet / Laging sariwa at kagigiliwan ang mga kuwento at kabataan ng nakaraan (verso) oil on canvas 19 1/2" x 13 1/2" (50 cm x 34 cm) PROVENANCE: A gift from the artist to the present owner In Cityscape, foremost social realist Pablo Baens Santos depicts a crowded city scene filled with vehicles and ordinary people busily engaging in their individual affairs and concerns. Palatial edifices loom out from the background, towering above a blue sky. Warped in a convoluted, chaotic setting, Santos emphasizes congestion problems in modern-day cities due to inefficient, deplorable urban planning. Proper urban planning in the Philippines is still reserved for the wealthy. The class divide and segregation in our modern-day cities is very evident, which Santos compellingly captures in this piece. Numerous “developments” in urban areas are always bragged about, but these are confined particularly to business and mixeduse districts, with only the well-to-do having the privilege and opportunity to revel in these forms of purported “progress.” Gated communities are an antithesis to the actual living conditions outside it. The workers who create the wealth of the city—and the nation—are plagued with an inefficient public transportation system, lack of decent housing, and a paltry income. The masses reside in dense, tightly packed communities, lacking a dignified and humane environment conducive to overall physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Amid an impression of progress lies the distressed condition of the ordinary people borne from decades-long social inequalities. Through this piece, Santos enkindles a reclaiming and assertion of our inherent right to the city. (A.M.)